New Year Anytime


I sometimes wish friends a happy "personal new year" when they are celebrating their birthdays.  But I got to thinking, why stop there? When things haven't been going well, can't we just hit the figurative reset button anytime, return to "Go", tabula rasa?  This was my first in a series of New Year's cards, but now that I look at it, the "Twelve Months that have recently pass'd" could be anytime.  "Still, fill to the Future!...Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen."

Full text of the poem:

And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast
and been bow'd to the earth with its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months that have recently pass'd
were as harsh as a prejudiced jury---
Still, fill to the Future!  And join in our chime,
the regrets of remembrance to cozen.
And having obtained a New Trial of Time
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.


Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

Post of New Year's Past

I missed 2009 (the card, not the year) because of a shoulder injury on my writing side, but here is 2008's edition. The Walter Scott quote is in Blackletter Textura, scanned and printed on the inkjet. The red line and gold ornamentation are hard to see in this photo, but were added to each card by hand.

Since my cards usually go out closer to Lunar New Year than January 1st, I like to give it a little shout-out. Oh-eight was a pretty good year considering it was "of the rat"!



The Year is Still New, and So Am I (at this)




The ink is dry and my annual New Year's cards are in the mail. Finally. This year's features a piece of a Tennyson poem. I love the ending: Ring out the false, ring in the true! Amen to that.

The calligraphy is done quite a bit larger, scanned, and (full disclosure) cleaned up a bit in Photoshop Elements, then printed onto yummy Fabriano Medioevalis with my trusty inkjet.

I'm a realistic kind of gal: I don't even try for the holidays, and my cards been known to go out in May...but better late than never and all that, and what's so special about the Gregorian calendar, anyway? I like to give a nod to the Lunar New Year (okay, because it gives me a few extra weeks) and here's the back of the card:

I tend to get way involved adding gold ink flourishes to the printed cards...

and using the best sealing wax ever from Atelier Gargoyle, in this case not to seal anything but as an ornament. It's "bullet-proof and almost post office proof,", say Ward & Linnea.


The envelopes are another part of the production line; the return address is printed from a scan of the calligraphy, and some gold ink touches are added.

Finally, they're all addressed and ready for the gorgeous Year of the Tiger postage. Always nice when the USPS puts out a winner.

Now the best part: hearing from friends and family, who often call or email to tell me they've just received the card. That makes me and my New Year very happy!